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David Lowery (guest)
IL:

They should study the demographic getting the tax cuts. Those in the upper portion are likely saving their money, so it is all going in to prop up the stock market, which doesn't do very much to assist the people in real crisis. .

This would be simpler if Social Security (and other entitlement programs) were largely corrected by removing caps.

Donaize Smith (guest)
VA:

This country needs to go to a flat rate tax system because it is not fair that people who make $250,000 annually are taxed at the same rate that multi-millionaires are - we don't have the ability to "hide and shelter" money like they do and taking 40 percent of our income to go to taxes is like taking it all; for multimillionaires it is a drop in the bucket. So, this administration needs to find a better way.

James Foley (guest)
TX:

Here's a crazy idea. Reduce the burden of taxes on the people and reduce government spending by even more. A reduction in deficit (and hopefully/eventually, debt), citizens having more of their money to spend as they want to, without the government deciding where their money should go. I know it sounds crazy, but could we try it?

Kathryn O'Mara (guest)
NY:

Ben Jealous is just jealous for attention and put out an unsubstantiated claim. Now that he's been called out on it, he's trying to backtrack. Democratic activists look silly trying to parse his words to try to claim he never intended to brand the tea party movement as racist.

There are "racist elements" in any sizable organization. Someone doesn't call publicly do what Jealous did without intending to tar the entire organization's reputation.

Tony Westover (guest)
MA:

The NAACP is arguing a truism here, that there is racism in the tea party ranks. Well duh, racism exists in every organization. Bigotry is a part of the human condition.

The NAACP's resolution is clearly politically motivated, otherwise they would've call on numerous other organizations to condemn racism among their ranks. How many times have you heard progressive organizations go on and on about white people? And that's overtly racist, yet not a peep from the NAACP.

In addition, the NAACP has failed to provide a shred of evidence that the tea party movement has exhibited racism. No proof has been provided that black lawmakers have been spit on and called racial epithets. And whenever biased organizations like MSNBC claim that the tea party is racist, they constantly show signs of Obama in Joker facepaint (which was created by a Kucinich supporter) and signs of Obama as a witch doctor. If those are racist, then what do they call the numerous depictions of George W. Bush with obvious apelike features?

Dick Jonas (guest)
AZ:

I don't see how the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People can in all good conscience call anyone racist. What if there were an organization called the National Association for the Advancement of White People? The NAACP would be well advised to drop the "C" and change its name to the National Association for the Advancement of People.

bernard martin (guest)
PA:

Living in a part of Pennsylvania often referred to as that section of Alabama located between Philly and the "Burgh, I am surrounded by people who, though not public tinfoil hat wearers, find the tea party movement ever so patriotic, truly American, and Christian.

Unfortunately, these people have no qualms expressing their racism, intolerance, and covetiveness as applied to anyone outside of their well known demographic. Having witnessed their behavior at last year's town hall meeting. Re: health care reform I can honestly say that if the racists were repudiated the movement would no longer move.

Linda Conley (guest)
OR:

Unemployment among black males in inner cities is as high as 35 to 50 percent; three-quarters of all black children are born out of wedlock; nearly one out of every two conceptions among black Americans end in abortion.

Samir Shabazz, head of the New Black Panther party in Philadelphia says in 2008 in the Philadelphia Inquirer that he is for "the destruction of white people," and elsewhere that if you want freedom, "you're gonna have to kill some crackers, you're gonna have to kill some of their babies."

Now, the NAACP proclaims there is racism among the tea partygoers. Andrew Breitbart offer his own $100,000 for proof of such racism, e.g., the 'N' invective being used at rallies or black congressmen being spat upon, but no one came forward. The claims are unsubstantiated.

But when the left has its own members out of line with regard to the race issue - Sen. Byrd being part of the KKK until he became a senator and thereafter praised the group for a decade; Harry Reid talking about the president's ability to speak in Negro dialect when choosing - they get a pass. The overwhelming majority of Americans reject the president's push toward socialism: taking over health and student loan industry, car companies. The left must pull the race card. Yawn.

Dean Birt (guest)
VA:

The term racism has become a cheap euphemism devoid of any real meaning. It is a term that is thrown about like a cheap baseball. Those who use the word "racist" usually use it as an epithet of last resort when their stand on an issue no longer holds water.

The NAACP has become a defunct organization that no longer represents is original constituency or fights for its original purpose. What the NAACP does fight for is continued social welfare programs along with the disbursement of federal dollars for organizations that promote the dependency of urban and rural African-Americans upon the government.

For the last 30 years its motto has been "what can you do for me" instead of "what can I do for myself." The NAACP needs to stop pointing the finger at others for the severe problems that plague black America. African-Americans should never have left the support of the Republican Party in the 1920s for the lies, deceit and servitude of the Democratic Party. The NAACP is being used as usual by the Democratic Party to take on the fight against the tea party movement. This will just continue to delegitimize the NAACP.

Van Le (guest)
CA:

The main emphasis of tea parties is to reign in government spending. Don't forget what that tea is an acronym for Taxed Enough Already.

I don't deny that there are racists in the movement, but I'm sure most of us with any common sense would also agree that there are probably members of the NAACP who have racist sentiments. Unfortunately, riff-raff exist in many movements, especially grassroots movements that aren't centralized.

Two other comments irked me. One about the statement "Our way of life" is racist. The knee-jerk assumption that a person says that "Obama threatens our way of life" is a racist comment is a bit ridiculous. I assume that statement refers to an "American way-of-life" and not "white way-of-life". Those who do assume that it's a racist statement are simply psychologically trapped into a worldview that is suspicious of whites.

The other comment referred to the "coddling" of the movement by the media. Who can forget all the statements referring to them to "teabaggers"? All over CNN and MSNBC, commentators and reporters laughed like prepubescent boys making thinly veiled gay jokes. Just imagine if Brit Hume referred to Code Pink as c***-suckers and you'll understand how vulgar "teabagger" is.

Kevin leach (guest)
OH:

Sherrilyn Ifill's comments that tea party members spit at black congressmen and used veiled language to warn that "our way of life" is threatened by our first black president, should be denounced by tea party leaders etc ... Excuse me Ms. Ifill, but you're obviously partisan and highly biased slip is showing.

You fail to mention that certain left-wing groups promoted a campaign to show up at tea party events to carry these types of signs etc. to create a media event to discredit the tea parties. Not to mention that not one shred of evidence exists that anyone tried to spit on or used racist language with the congressman in question.

You seem to accept this assertion as iron clad fact. Why is that? Do you believe all congressman always tell the truth, or just ones that you support? Most disturbing of all is your belief that “our way of life” is some commonly shared white American racist code against Obama. Are you kidding? “Our way of life” is a desire of whites to somehow have license to be racist towards blacks. The ridiculousness of this assertion is exceeded only by its agonizingly tortured reasoning. The motivation of your well-written PR piece is pretty obvious.

Dennis Swiatek (guest)
IL:

There was a time in history when the NAACP not only did good work, they did courageous work. That was in the '60s and '70s. I was there and they were needed. Now, however, I fear that they prefer to be a pawn for the Democratic administration rather than an irrelevent anachronism.

Moreover, they are calling on the leadership of the tea party (which being a true grassroots organization has no formal national leadership) to denounce racists in their midst who may or may not be tea party members. Has the NAACP done the same within their organization? Has the NAACP taken a stand on the recent activities of the Black Panther Party? I think this is the first shot in the media war surrounding the midterm elections and I am embarrassed for the NAACP for reducing a once fine organization to the role of water carriers for the Democratic Party. I think it is a dirty shame.

Thomas Lee (guest)
CA:

Calling an institution, movement, gathering of like minds, or people racists is an exercise in futility. The NAACP, smartly, didn't make this claim about the tea party phenomenon.

Racism has always been before us but always fleeting and shifting to prevent us of tying it down, cutting its ugly head, and allowing humanity to move forward. History has shown that few to no people will proudly wear the moniker of "racist," for it suggests a large amount of ignorance, inhumanity, and power. Some tea partiers have one but not the others.

It's fitting that this discussion has resurfaced, because none of us could imagine the ascendence of Barack Obama to the presidency with our collective racial baggage, and this exercise seems appropriate, in that if finally gives us permission to zip open those bags and change clothes.

Are there bigots in the tea party movement? Yes, without a doubt. Have there been times when the race card was pulled from the bottom of the deck by prominent African-Americans? Yes, without a doubt. It this another incidence of the latter: no. The NAACP is trying to prevent a wrinkle of bigotry from turning into a tide of hatred and potential violence. This is what we all should be doing.

Alfonso Lowry (guest)
FL:

Can anyone who posts here definitively say that there is no racism in America? It seems as though some people are trying to categorically deny that "certain elements" of a group of people may be racist when there is clear and abundant evidence that race is a motivating factor behind certain attacks used on our president.

For instance showing a poster of Obama dressed as a witch doctor suggest you would rather distract from the issues at hand than talk about the substance of the disagreement. Having said that, if people are aware of racist elements within the NAACP then call them out, provide examples so the problem can be dealt with. Please do not rely on the classic playground comeback "no we're not but you are!" to defend yourself from meaningful commentary about the makeup of your movement. Sometimes introspection is a valuable ethical and political tool that people would do well to employ.

John Smedley (guest)
CA:

I too am a tea party patriot. I joined because I am afraid for our country and the direction the liberals, socialists, progressives, and radical left-wingers are taking us. Our only concern is the core values stated by the tea party core values; free markets, limited government, and fiscal responsibility.

We already have a tyranical government that everyone fears. This must stop. Are we a free people or not? The tea party is not about racism and we do not tolerate racism. If a person attends a tea party rally carrying a racist sign, that person would be immediately escorted out. I would suggest that any racist sign that appears at a tea party rally is a plant trying to discredit the tea party.

It appears to me that the true racists are those who continue the unfounded racist allegations such as the new Black Panthers, NAACP, and others who have financial motives in continuing the racist debate; as well as the white supremist groups. This is not the tea party. Please just let racism go away and let's judge people by their charactor and not the color of their skin. After all, we are all Americans and we all yearn to be free and to make our own decisions.

Fallon Starr (guest)
IL:

If the tea party was racist, why would the left need to work so hard at infiltrating them with groups like "Crash the Tea Party" to try to make them look racist? It's a big, dangerous and self-defeating game the far left is playing.

Calling someone a "racist" used to be the most vile and intimidating way to humiliate a person and effectively shut them up but it no longer has that power as it has been co-opted and corrupted to mean anyone who disagrees with this administration's progressive agenda (and that is a majority of Americans).

Rich Carroll (guest)
CO:

Yes, racism is unfortunately alive and well in the United States, and calling someone a "racist" is the ultimate insult in our society. That is why the NAACP chose this epithet.

The racist organization in this exchange is the NAACP which seeks to destroy a group of Americans -- of all races -- who are simply expressing their concern about the direction the country is being led. The tea party movement is patriotic in the finest traditions of American history and it welcomes and supports persons of any race who support the tea party objectives of limited government.

joan foster (guest)
IL:

In the Duke Lacrosse case, the NAACP prostituted every principle they held for payback … and for a flex of political power. They advocated for rigged line-ups, altered police notes, defense gag orders, witness intimidation, and indictment with no evidence.

They turned on a black witness, an immigrant who feared losing his chance at citizenship, who stepped forward courageously and told the truth. But the NAACP is no longer amenable to the truth. The NAACP kept a pack of vicious fabrications on its official website … well after the frame was demolished ... lies that were already refuted early on by court documents and medical reports.

They left them there shamefully… for anyone who trusted their veracity to be misled. The NAACP assisted what the Democratic AG called “a rogue prosecutor” with “no evidence” in framing three innocent kids … in some horrific display of a political temper tantrum fueled by reverse racism. This is not an organization that has any moral authority to point fingers. Today's NAACP harbors an immense racist element of its own. Check out your own mote, people, before you set up your optometry services.

Thomas Roden (guest)
TX:

If a picture is worth a thousand words, let's compare NAACP meetings with pictures of tea party gatherings. Which one has more diverse color? I'll bet my paycheck on it. Calling someone else a racist is the easiest way to disguise one's own racism. The pot calling the kettle ...?

jim szteiter (guest)
OH:

I think that the NAACP has lost its value and it's becoming an institution for itself; the common man doesn't benefit and it's clear that the Democrats that are a part of it want the repression, control and power that comes with their positions.

It kind of like the United Nations; a good idea at its time, but, something that has out lived its real usefulness. You would think it would be better if the NAACP was actively trying to promote racial harmony, core based family values and more self-reliance rather than always trying to stir the pot; why, what's the point of this?

There is no hard evidence to support that the tea party is racist. Everybody that pulls the wagon should be treated fairly and paid for what they do, if you can't and you have to sit in the wagon for a while, no problem, but, don't continue top depend on me to pull the wagon all the time and you expect all the same benefits. It just can't continue to be a one-sided conversation.

Brian Kynikos (guest)
FL:

As one commenter noted both organizations were formed from the same guiding cloth, one that is driven to promote freedom of all in a free and just society. Where the narrative has digressed is in the search for individual platform relevance, or the actual antithesis of the founding principle.

This digression has been fostered by heightened emotion and political muckraking in an effort to garner consensus, in other words they have fallen into the trap of viewing their efforts with an overinflated self-importance while sacrificing the message in the trade-off for the media spotlight.

The two groups would be better served by cementing some sort of a consistent platform to build unity rather than lashing out at every turn to gain their perceived need of "face time" for their now divergent causes. Until the utopian goal of common good happens, both organizations run the risk of being seen as political opportunists seeking attention for their segment of ideals rather than one of truly uniting our nation.

James Eells (guest)
WV:

I just find it utterly amazing after all the vile things that I heard said about and to George Bush, that anytime anything even remotely negative is said about Obama, it is deemed racist.

NAACP should remember all the things that they hurled at Bush and anytime you are a president that you are fair game by every element out there whether they are right or wrong. Tea partiers whom I know are concerned about the direction that our country has gone in the past 20 years and do not want it to continue in that direction.

Of course, the left is alarmed about this because it goes directly against their doctrines. When he was running for president, I studied the issues and everything else that Obama was saying and I could not support his views or ideals. Nothing more, nothing less.

Stan Muse (guest)
AL:

Where is the criticism by the NAACP of the Black Panther Party member calling for the killing of "crackers" and killing some "cracker babies"?

This was captured on video as opposed to the accusations against the tea party for which there is no evidence, despite large monetary rewards offered for any video evidence. It appears that the accusations against the tea party are nothing but a Goebbels-esque "Big Lie," being repeated over and over so that people will believe it in the absence of any evidence.

The NAACP seems to define racism as anything done by white people that they don't like, but they are silent, and by their silence supportive, of the racial hatred and anti-Semitic rhetoric of the Black Panthers and Nation of Islam. Dr. King's vision of a world where we judged people on the content of their character is nowhere to be found in the NAACP, the BPP or the Nation of Islam, rather, everything they say and their world view is based solely on skin color. These organizations strive to perpetuate racial divisions in order to justify their existence rather than working to achieve the racial harmony of The Dream.

Michelle McDonald (guest)
GA:

If the NAACP has examples of racism within the tea party, let's see them and then we can denounce them. I have personally seen signs (not racist in nature by any means) that I would not carry.

However, there are extremists in every group. What happened to "innocent until proven guilty."? I think it is just another half-hearted effort to vilify the tea party. Shame on you.

Rich Kline (guest)
OR:

Will the NAACP now condemn "racist elements" in its own organization? Will it expel members and castigate non-members who engage in anti-white rhetoric? Of course not.

Only whites can be bigoted. Only conservatives can be racist. It must be especially disturbing for them to know that independent whites who voted for Obama now oppose him — perhaps they have been radicalized by Obama's performance and rhetoric? The fear these professional race-baiters show when their government rice bowl is threatened by concerned citizens is apparent, and their retreat into using the victim card is evidence of the degeneration of their organization.

Laura Halvorsen (guest)
FL:

Sherrilyn Ifill says the NAACP is simply "call(ing) on the tea party to act like a responsible political movement worthy of the kind of media coddling it's enjoyed."

She further states that the tea parties have "displayed racist posters of President Barack Obama, spit at black congressmen and used veiled language to warn that "our way of life" is threatened by our first black president."

Oh, please. The tea party has hardly enjoyed any "media coddling" given that the majority of media are liberal and have dutifully labeled the tea parties as "racist" and "crazy." She, nor the NAACP, offers a single shread of evidence to support these allegations. These are little more than ginned up accusations meant to discredit a movement that the left views as a political threat.

In China and Venezuela, such political dissidents are locked up or worse. Thanks to the U.S. Constitution, that option isn't available to the left so they do the next best thing: engage in the politics of personal destruction. Of course, there's always the caveat that "the entire tea party movement is not racist" - meant merely to account for the African-American tea party members who have recently spoken out against these baseless allegations.

Ichiro Myasato (guest)
WA:

The NAACP did the right thing. Conservatives in the past have requested the same from Dems and African-Americans when denouncing extremist in the black Muslims. No different.

Correction to Mr. Conda, Republicans are currently trailing in the polls according to the latest CNN update among other networks confirming the same. This current situation in the tea party, unless the cleanup their fringe base, will surely not help.

Eric Morris (guest)
WA:

Need evidence that racism in America is waning, this discussion proves it. Apparently it is now "racist" to bear signs questioning our president's country of birth, equating him to a marxist and questioning his intentions for America.

I have not found in photos of tea party rallies a single sign, and I have looked for months, disparaging Obama's race. I have not seen a single video clip of anyone at a rally uttering a racist word and neither has anyone who currently makes the racism charges. Why? Because there are none. Why aren't there any? Because it has not happened.

The main leg of evidence for these bomb throwers is "the tea party is mostly white." Well, so is America. I guess in their small minds this proves their point. It is quite simple to search for and find the most reprehensible signs and chants charging Bush with the most vile intentions. This speech was protected by the left and their media as patriotic dissent. It is the height of hypocrisy and dishonesty to now turn the tables and contort similar protest against Obama into charges of racism. Mr. Jealous, Mr. Dworkin, Mr. Mathews, Mr. Olbermann, Ms. Maddow, MSM, provide proof of real racism or apologize.

Onu Odim (guest)
NY:

Mr. Blakeman says that the "The NAACP has embarked on an orchestrated campaign to discredit the tea party movement. " No, the NAACP has embarked on an orchestrated campaign to discredit the racist and white supremacists element that finds comfort within the tea party movement.

How can an honest and rational observer disagree with this sentiment? It is that simple. It makes me wonder about the motives of those people who obfuscate this simple message by bringing up the New Black Panther Party which is not in any way affiliated with the NAACP and probably has no more than 25 members in the entire country, and which is quite obviously a hate group.

I believe that such obfuscation and misdirection represents the true "orchestrated campaign" but it is aimed at discrediting the NAACP not the tea party. The cries of "where is the proof" are as comical as the Obama birthers cries of "show me the birth certificate." Intelligent commentators seem incapable of seeing what is directly in front of them. Why?

Michael Buehler (guest)
NJ:

To be honest for every organization out there, there are a few people who hold extremist views who gather on the fringes. The LaRouche Democrats, the John Birchers, there are all types of fringe groups that are drawn to organizational gatherings.

Even people who think that aliens have landed and are held in Area 51 are entitled to gather and use their freedom of speech. So obviously when you get large groups of angry people, such as the tea party, or the anti-war movement, or a NAACP rally, you get a few crazy people who just came along because this is a free country.

Your Code Pink anti-war impeach Bush (which was a valid position) were on the fringe, beyond that there were those who hung Palin in effigy, who burned Bush in effigy thinking he caused Sept. 11 (which is nota valid position).

Beyond the tea party who are angry at Obama and think he is running a globalist agenda and want to see his birth certificate (which is a valid position), you had a few using some racist looking signs (not a valid position). For your NAACP marches you had angry New Black Panthers (I know a few old Black Panthers, their sick of the modern group) hurling racial slurs and threatening voters. When people are angry, they say and do stupid things.

Ed Preston (guest)
NC:

The NAACP and this administration, trying to indicate that the tea party is racist is the most hypocritical position I have ever witnessed. I have attended three tea party ralies including the one on April 15 in D.C. and have yet to see any signs of racism of any kind.

The NAACP never suggested Rev. Wright be removed from his position. Nor have they condemed any of the actions or statements of the Black Panther Party, and supported SEIU members who beat up a black conservative in Mo. The Justice Department dropped the already-won lawsuit against the Black Panthers and did not prosocute the SEIU members.

They play the race card at every opportunity against anyone who disagrees with their policies. The testimony of the Justice Department Lawyer who resigned in protest over the Black Panther suit indicates that the policy of the Justice Department is to ignore any black on white crime or discrimination.

Actions speak louder than words and the actions indicate that the NAACP is a racist orginization against whites and that this administration is the most racist administration ever. There was hope that a black president would advance race relations and he went into office with a 70+ percent approval rating. Race relations have been set back 50 years.

Patricia Britt (guest)
MI:

Mr. Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP president, was simply doing his job in speaking. He is mandated to carry out resolutions voted on by the membership. The NAACP is a transparent organization. You can see them in action on YouTube, or at www.naacp.org.

John Kettlewell (guest)
FL:

Attack the person to distract from the debate. If the many, non-centralized, independent "tea party" groups were racist, it would be known and there would be no need for a resolution (how official sounding) to be drafted.

Uninvited or unintended people show up at rallies quite often. Multinational leaders get-togethers - vandalism breaks out, are all bad? Enviromentalists - vandalism and arson, are all bad? NAACP - calls Kenneth Gladney 'uncle tom' 'not black enough' 'on the wrong side' and generally endorsed his attackers, are all bad?

Where's the outrage on the inside of a centralized organization with elected leaders? You can't even apologize or condemn your own group's actions. Tea Party Express is the only tea party I know of that has been hijacked by Republican organizers. Just hope common sense and understanding prevails. People don't have to agree. Don't forget about the silent majority in the middle, no one owns us, we choose our own path no matter how many turns we choose to take.

Jim Wojtasiewicz (guest)
VA:

My my my. The easiest way to understand how it feels to be the NAACP in these troubled times is to read the invective being heaped upon them in the above comments by Republican wanna-be tea party apologists.

Including the amazing assertion that the NAACP should be reaching out to the tea partiers! If, and it is a very big if, if the tea partiers are really ready to stand up for equal rights in our country, they should be the ones reaching out to the NAACP. Somehow, I doubt that.

The tea partiers seem to have gotten themselves all tangled up in trumpeting for individual rights vis a vis the government. You don't have to count the number of blackfaces in the crowd, the number of signs depicting President Obama as a monkey, or the number of times African-American members of Congress are spat upon at tea party rallies, to get that awful sinking feeling that for both the tea partiers and the Republican Party, the cause of equal rights is only some suspicious, distasteful form of creeping socialism. This is flat wrong. Equal rights for all Americans are enshrined in our Constitution, no less than individual rights.

Tom Gregg (guest)
IL:

The NAACP's resolution condemning the alleged racism of the tea party movement reminds me of Talleyrand’s comment on Napoleon’s judicial murder of the Duc d’Enghien:

"It was worse than a crime, it was a blunder.” Not only is it a malicious smear, it makes a mockery of the oft-repeated claim that President Obama’s election represented a new departure in race relations. Precisely how will this help the president and his party in November?

Mike Lewis (guest)
LA:

Just think what could be accomplished if we were all Americans first and a nation under God. Instead of bunch of unhappy souls looking for what God has already blessed us with.

If we are such a screwed up country please tell me how this nation has achieved all that it has, just because a select group of people want to manipulate our way of life and totally control us through a dictatorship doesn't mean we should surrender.

Remember once you are a prisoner you are nothing but a body to be herded about. Freedom as Americans serving God is the only way because as Americans our Constitution has endowed us with God-given rights.

Ken Davidson (guest)
IN:

The tea party does not exist. The irony of this entire discussion is that no one addresses the core problem of the resolution: That there are no tea party leaders.

To the extent that some claim to be "leaders" they generally do so for their own political gain. Tea parties are loosely based forums for the sharing of information among citizens. These citizens are the United States of America, so they come with all of the flaws of this nation.

Those who criticize the tea partiers see things that they despise in this country and would like to change. Those things are mostly political: there are huge differences in opinion about the direction of this country. This is the first time that people have stopped to take a real look at the direction this country has been headed in the past 60 years, since the incorporation doctrine was fully implemented. Many do not like it.

To say that they are racist because federal authority has been used to combat racism is simplistic. Federalism has provided a solution to many problems that this country has faced but at what cost? Is it the proper solution? These are questions that have rarely been asked and, when they were asked, were cast aside as the rantings of fringe naysayers.

Steve Mattern (guest)
OK:

Dworkin writes - "But it’s tough to run from the racism label when the mostly white tea party’s approach includes trying to discuss whether Obama is a “natural born citizen” or having various state Republican party platforms demand proof of citizenship." Huh?

How does questioning anyone's citizenship denote racism? Re-read Greg's post and then substitute "progressive/liberal" everywhere he has written "tea party." Is the statement just as valid then? Greg, how would you define a Black Panther member espousing the need to kill "crackers"? Or the NAACP not proposing a resolution that the "New" Black Panthers are anything less than a racist organization? Maybe we will see the answer when your movie comes out, "The Two Faces of Greg Dworkin."

Michael Fidanza (guest)
NJ:

There is more than a hint of hypocrisy in NAACP's call for the tea party to cleanse themselves of racist elements while racism is evident at some level everywhere.

There are two arguments in play here. First, it is disingenuous for the NAACP to call for the end of racism in multi-cultural groups like the tea parties while ignoring the hate speech being spewed by the New Black Panther Party. Racism should not be ignored by any group.

Second, the tea party is not an organization like the NAACP; I can join a tea party just by showing up at a rally. Conversely, if I were to apply for membership at the NAACP, I would pay yearly dues of $30 or $750 for a lifetime membership. Of course, like AARP, I'd be eligible for some perks for that membership. In a free society, we are always reminded that we must be tolerant of the speech of others, even if it offends us to our core.

There may be some who might behave badly and any solid citizen would refute those who wish to bring their racist agenda and cloak it in an exercise in liberty. In this case, it is the NAACP's liberal agenda that they choose to cloak in cries of "racism."

Sandra Scott (guest)
IN:

I'm a proud member of a local tea party in Clarksville, Ind. We are an educational group of citizens that are looking at three priorities -- fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government.

All of the people in our group are level-headed moms, grandparents, dads, and others that care about the state of the United States. Several of my friends are black and I have never been violent or a racist. However it is time for Americans to stand up and be counted or roll over and play dead. The challenge is now. The socialists in this country have had too much time to do major damage to this country.

It is a call to Americans that care to stop listening to the liberal media and letting someone else tell them how to vote, etc. Join a tea party and learn about the issues and by education help to save this wonderful country from the would-be tyrants.

Epa Minondas (guest)
ME:

Thurgood Marshall is thoroughly depressed somewhere. The NAACP which championed what needed to be championed now uses an undocumented (how many cameras were there, with sound) claim about some potentially moronic comments, to smear a group begun so far from any racial considerations no one involved even thought about such an abstraction.

Because in reality they perceive this group to be inimical to their political prowess. Formerly righteous groups like the NAACP and SPLC are now simply dialectic bound minions of a far different message than that which spoke to the justice of their former actions. Fiscal responsibility has nothing to do with race.

Meanwhile unmentioned is their extreme belief demonstrated by lack of condemnation, or mention, that African-Americans cannot be racists over the voter intimidation case in Philadelphia characterized by the 'cracker hating' baby killer wannabe. Tragedy. For all.

For what believable organization is left which can speak with neutral believability about racism? The NAACP, far from engaging in actions which highlight true racism, instead inflame the different races by inciting separation via ideals, while refusing to deal with the obvious.

Dorothy Brooks (guest)
TX:

Unfortunately, the NAACP is drawing a line in the sand for black conservatives like me. I identify with the older version of the NAACP's purposes, but can not support this effort.

I would have been impressed if they had invited former President Bush to speak or had invited the tea party to a formal dialogue to discuss ideals and ideas to move our country forward on race. An amendment that labels the group as racist is counter-productive.

What about amendments which labeledd abortion as genocide against black women? What about standing up for black families and talking against the threats to the survival of families like gay marriage? What about talking about the threats to American jobs like jobs being sent overseas or illegal immigrants coming into this country? What about the miseducation of black youth by ineffective teachers and disinterested parents? There are so very many issues that they could have and should have condemned. Instead they became the political arm of the Obama administration. That was easy call.

But the NAACP was established to be a source of light, fairness and truth in an era of lies and unfairness, not to take the easy way and become minions for others. I am disappointed but unfortunately, not surprised.

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